I saw a phenomenal post on the website "United Methodeviations." It concerns a study done on clery burnout and its direct correlation with the lack of attending to one's own spiritual life. I hope you will check out How Deep the Well.Here is what I commented under the post:
"I resonate with this as a pastor who discovered it the hard way. I have been a pastor for about 20 years, and about 10 or 12 years ago I found I was drawing from an empty well. Some significant challenges knocked over my tree and I discovered how rootless I had been while living in the world of functioning and performing. Through a journey of the dark night of the soul, I began to claim regular time and space for personal spiritual formation and attending to my relationship with Christ. It has been completely lifegiving.
"We pastor in a culture that so devalues anything but productivity. On top of that, our denominaton’s instituational anxiety about loss has led to increased pressure to perform with less spiritual support for those serving. It is so easy to fall into 'doing mode' and spend ourselves completely at the expense of being rooted in Christ. By grace, I experienced enough brokenness to shatter my assumptions and draw me back to the true vine.
"I have written about this on my blog at My Personal Journey With Spiritual Formation. I hope others will find it helpful and be inspired to attend to one’s own spiritual life as a primary calling."
